Fighting Spirit
by Johanna-002
Summary: We had all thought Marbey was gone, forever out of our lives. "The blood pooled… Clarisse screamed…. 18 hours later when Joseph had awoken he was running a fever… a blood infection… Clarisse finally screamed out, "Well leave. I don't want your energy in this room. Leave. If you've given up on him then I've given up on you. Go!" Complete. R&R!


**Title: **Fighting Spirit

**Summary: **We had all thought Marbey was gone, forever out of our lives. "The blood pooled… Clarisse screamed…. 18 hours later when Joseph had awoken he was running a fever… a blood infection… Clarisse finally screamed out, "Well leave. I don't want your energy in this room. Leave. If you've given up on him then I've given up on you. Go!"

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Princess Diaries or Princess Diaries 2: Royal engagement or any of its characters; they belong Meg Cabot. I do however own my writing, please don't steal- Johanna002©

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-01-

May 9th, 2006, was one of the most horrendous days of Clarisse's life. It had started off as any normal day.

_She yawned, shifting into the warmth and the hard chest of her husband. A smile graced her lips at the way they fit so perfectly together. _

_Sleepily, Joseph said, "We should get up."_

_Burying further into his warmth, "I am not ready to…" She mumbled sleepily. _

_A husky, sleepy laugh sounded in her ear, "Me either… But the sooner we get up and out of hear the sooner we can come back."_

_Maybe normal wasn't the right word. Ever since they had awoken that morning they where running around. After bathing and dressing, Clarisse finishing her eye liner as Joseph tied his tie, they where quickly hauled from their suite into the limo. _

_Accompanying Queen Amelia and her Fiancée Lord Nicholas Devereaux to City Hall, Joseph and Clarisse; Clarisse would be giving a speech after Amelia, regarding the plans for a Children's Oncology Center- announcing that they would have some of the best Oncologists transferred from America, Asia and India, along with a wonderful team of nurses. _

_"Our children are our future, and Queen Amelia and I will over see the project of the building and the first round of the employed Medical Team. I trust in this, all I ask is that you trust in me- in her…"_

_After nearly twenty years of watching Clarisse's back, and ten months of marriage, Joseph had become very accustomed to his position when it came to a public announcement. Now, as her husband, he stood on her left, about a foot from her and about a foot back. _

_Just as Clarisse took a seconds pause, a man hollered, "Revenge is the sweetest joy!"_

X-X-X

Clarisse stared wide-eyed, her gaze fixed on the plain white tile in front of her, her hands wrung tightly. She could still hear the chaos… still remembered all of the blood. Joseph, her husband and best friend, was in the OR, the doctors desperately trying to save his life.

_The sound of the gun going off ripped through her ears as if she was right next to a fireworks display, listening to it go off, with no protection. The echo of the ear-splitting "BANG" carried on for a good minute._

_It all happened so fast. She didn't know how or why, but the next thing she knew was she was kneeling down next to Joseph, his head cradled in her lap as his blood spilled forth from his body. _

_Clarisse screamed in horror. The whole crowd was now in pure terror and the police and ambulance sirens sounded- EMT's and Police where on call._

_"Jo… Joseph, please, please," She cried. _

_He gurgled, his body growing extremely cold. "C- Clarisse," He struggled to catch his breath. "I… Love… You…"_

_"I love you too!" She cried, her grip tightening on him, "Joseph please, please, stay with me… Please."_

The police had to forcibly pull Clarisse away; the paramedics needed room to work. Over her sobbing, and the reassuring voice of her granddaughter Clarisse heard the female paramedic say, "A single gun shot wound to the chest. I've gotten the bleeding to calm, let's strap him on the stretcher and get him in the bus. We need to insert an IV and start breathing treatment. Go! Go! Go!"

That had been nearly three hours ago.

"Grandma," Clarisse looked up, the big brown eyes of her granddaughter staring her in the face.

She forced a smile, her eyes red and puffy. "Amelia, are you okay?"

"I'm fine grandma." She slowly sat down next to Clarisse, taking her cold, frail hand in hers.

Choking back a sob, Clarisse asked, "Who shot him? Was the bullet intended for me, or for you… why Joseph… Why not me?"

Amelia's eyes closed, her throat closing in. "Author Marbey shot him Grandma. The bullet was intended for Joseph. Marbey wants him dead."

A sob escaped Clarisse. Joseph was her best friend, her confident, her lover… Joseph was her everything. As cliché as it may sound, Clarisse needed Joseph like she needed air to breath.

"Your Majesties," A doctor dressed in blue scrubs, her hair back in a srub cap, approached. Clarisse, Amelia and Nicholas all stood, the eight member of their team turning their attention towards the woman.

"Your Majesty," The doctor reached out for both Clarisse's and Amelia's hand. She looked towards Clarisse, "May we speak a moment?"

"No, no, it's okay." She sniffled.

Nodding, the doctor still directed her eyes and words to Clarisse. "Your Majesty-"

"Clarisse will do."

"Clarisse, I am Doctor Hang. I am a Trauma Surgeon; I was the Doctor on your husbands Case." She took a breath. "I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is the bullet was a penetrating wound, which means there is only an entrance wound. Your husband will make a full recovery."

"Thank God!" Clarisse exclaimed, Amelia hugging her tightly.

"However," The doctor began, "The bullet barley missed the heart… I mean, by only a hair. We had to extract the bullet, and while I do believe he will be fine- it's going to have to come in due time.. His breathing is a little off so he's wearing an oxygen mask. He will be in and out of consciousness for at least two or three days."

Clarisse sighed sadly, "But other then that?"

Doctor Hang smiled. "He's fine. He was calling for you for a little while, he's asleep now and if you give my nurses just a few minutes you can go and see him. He's down the hall and the forth door on the right, room 765."

X-X-X

"Go… We'll be in the waiting room. We'll come in, in a while." Amelia told her grandmother softly. Clarisse looked nervously towards Joseph's door. "It is okay grandma… go be with him."

As Clarisse entered the room her heart dropped and did a summer salt. Joseph still looked pale, and he obviously wasn't as lively as she knew him to be but he looked so much better then to how he had looked bleeding on the steps in front of City Hall.

She slowly approached his bed, taking a seat in the blue, uncomfortable looking chair. She grasped his hand and brought it up to her lips, kissing it; she placed it over her heart.

"Joseph, I don't know if you can hear me or not… But I just wanted to tell you that I love you. The doctors say that you're going to be fine." She whipped the tears from her cheeks. "God, Joseph, I love you so much."

He hadn't opened his eyes. He hadn't spoken. He did however, gently, squeeze her hand.

X-X-X

Joseph had only woken up once. He was almost in a high like state. His gaze was unfocused, except when trying to hold eye contact with Clarisse, and all of his words where slurry.

Clarisse could hear bells and whistles gong off in her head. Something wasn't right. She didn't want to believe that Joseph was worse off then the doctors thought, but something deep inside of her told her the worst was yet to come. He was so unsteady…

18 hours later…

Joseph woke up with a fever. A nurse had taken his temperature and it had read 104 degrees. She rushed out of the door, Clarisse turned to her granddaughter, "Something is wrong…" She whispered.

Little did Clarisse know, the nurse had just uttered those same words to Joseph's new Doctor, Doctor Kent.

Joseph had a severe blood infection that caused her temperature to rise to 106.9

Immediately three nurses entered Joseph's room with bags of ice; He was so hot that the bags of ice were completely melting.

Clarisse watched in absolute horror. She heard a nurse shout, "We need her temperature down, we need his heart rate down. He's going to go into cardiac arrest at any minute!"

"No! We didn't come this far to lose!" Mia exclaimed, holding tightly to her grandmother's and to her fiancée's hand.

"I just want to go home, with him," Clarisse whispered, her voice cracking. In the months of her marriage to Joseph she had changed a full 360. He had reestablished this whole new person in her and she just couldn't bare the thought of life with out him.

A nurse pulled Clarisse up to the bed. She did what she knew best, she put on a happy face and whispered her love right into Joseph's ear, promising him that no matter what she would always love him and always stand by him, but that he needed to be okay… that he needed to be able to go home with her.

His eyes would roll forward, and go back and roll forward and go back… she continued to reassure him how much he was loved and how much everyone needed him. His heart rate shot through the roof, rising over 300.

Amelia took a deep breath. She would have to let go. As much as it pained her she tried as best she could to mentally prepare herself for when they would pronounce Joseph, the man she viewed as her grandfather, dead. "Should I start calling our family?" Her voice was so sad.

Doctor Kent sighed lightly and nodded. "It's probably what would be best."

Repeatedly they tried to enter an IV into Joseph body. The command of stop had everyone at a standstill. Doctor Kent looked towards to Clarisse with sad eyes. "I am so sorry… but there is nothing we can do for him anymore. We can not get a stick."

Clarisse disregarded the Doctor. She looked towards the nurse, a female, Ana, who had been so helpful and reassuring and so informative. Clarisse was a wreck, her voice hiccupping between her cries, "Please… Please… just try one more time."

Doctor Kent interrupted. "I can not call the IV nurse back in!"

Clarisse ignored him. "Please. Just try… one more time." At this point, Joseph entire body was covered in ice. Clarisse had a nurse pulling at her and the doctor yelling at her that there was nothing he could do.

At this point Clarisse was past her breaking point. Everyone that said "there's nothing more we can do" was slapped by a fast reality check! Clarisse finally screamed out, "Well leave. I don't want your energy in this room. Leave. If you've given up on him then I've given up on you. Go!"

Everyone had given up, but Clarisse hadn't.

Thankfully, Ana had ignored Doctor Kent. She gave the IV one more try… She got it. Ana had saved Joseph's life.

On May 17, 2006, one of the happiest days in Clarisse's life, Joseph was released from the hospital. He would indeed make a full recovery.

Clarisse couldn't count the number of times that the odds had been stacked against her husband. Joseph just had a fighting spirit. If anything had been learned it was that everyday is a gift and you should cherish it like it is a gift.

**Author's Note: **I'm exhausted. I hope you enjoyed this however!


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